Product Information

Publisher's Description

Raised to be a "new woman" by her mother and three college roommates in the 70's amid anti-war protests, feminist rallies and finals, Rain Rasmussen discovers that putting her career first has left her overdrawn at the egg-bank, and her baby fever has now driven off her significant other.

When her terminally ill mother demands a Celebration of Life before she dies; they all confront ghosts from the past on a "stormy" weekend in Monterey. Bebe, the roommate closest to Rain's heart, revisits choices that have impacted Rain the most, raising doubts about God's- and her own- willingness to forgive and to be forgiven.

Author Bio

DEBBIE FULLER THOMAS is a freelance author and publisher, a former pastor's wife, and a survivor of breast cancer. She has been involved in children's and worship ministries at churches around California for 30 years. She currently manages youth programs for her local parks and recreation district. Debbie is the author of Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon and published Lord, I Was Happy Shallow, Coping with Cancer, Sacramento Sierra Parent, and Chicken Soup for the Bride's Soul. She and her husband, Don, have two grown sons and enjoy their "empty nest" in a historic gold rush town in northern California.

This story of women who had been college roommates during the late 60s will resonate with those who grew up during this era. Many youth discarded the values and lifestyles of their parents to seek empowerment for women and peace in the world. This novel shares the consequences of these choices, particularly for Rain, the daughter raised by Jude and her college roommates and Bebe who now had sons leaving for college and the service. As we observe their struggles to come to terms with their lives the author shares hope without offering trite platitudes. I highly recommend this book.

Debbie Fuller Thomas' writing always rings true. She resists the easy answer and gives us real characters living real lives. I love her take on contemporary issues. In this novel, she moves fluidly between the 60's and the present day, and it's like looking at two pictures of the same people taken at different times: you're fascinated by the way the characters have changed, the way the choices of the past have made them who they are today. This is a compassionate, tender story of real women wrestling with their angels.

I loved Debbie Fuller Thomas's Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, but Raising Rain even more. It's a real, sometimes gritty, look at life in the 60s and the impact it had on an entire generation of women. But it doesn't stop there, because that impact carried over to the next generation, and the next. Rain, daughter of one of the four women featured in the story, is living the fallout. Raising Rain perfectly captures the mood of the 60s, as well as the struggles of a single woman in the 21st century. It's beautifully crafted, with characters that are well defined. Debbie Thomas is a new voice in contemporary women's fiction, but it's a voice that will resonate for years to come.

There's a reason why Debbie Thomas's last book was a finalist for a Christie award, and why I expect this one will be, too: It's one of a new genre of literately-written and thoughtful women's novels.Its central character deals with an increasingly-common situation-- the urgency of wanting a baby, of dealing with the fear of waiting too long."Why did it have to be like this? She hadn't stopped loving Hayden, she just wanted a baby. She didn't want to kick herself years from now because she hadn't tried hard enough." (page 178.)True, this isn't a fast-paced suspense novel. It's a book to savor and think about long after you close the last well-written page.

Debbie Fuller Thomas has written a complex novel that both celebrates and contemplates the modern family. The characters are so real they could be your next door neighbors - or even you. Thomas doesn't resort to easy answers, instead she tells it like it is and draws us into the fully realized lives of women who are trying to figure it all out. This is a wonderful examination of the complexities of family life, motherhood, health, hope, and ultimately, who we truly belong to - God, ourselves, and each other. A wonderful book!